Francisco was the only child in a farm family. He married at the age of eighteen, but became a widower just sixteen months later. He then followed a call to religious life as a Franciscan friar at the convent of St. Miquel d’Escornalbou, making his religious profession 14 July 1641, and taking the name of Bonaventura. Over the next seventeen years he served in various Franciscan convents...

Born in 1245 in Sant'Angelo, St. Nicholas of Tolentino took his name from St. Nicholas of Myra, at whose shrine his parents prayed to have a child. Nicholas became a monk at eighteen, and seven years later, he was ordained a priest. He gained a reputation as a preacher and a confessor. Around 1274, he was sent to Tolentino, near his birthplace. The town suffered from civil strife between...

Peter Claver is known as “the Apostle of the Negroes” who gave his life for the conversion of slaves brought to the New World.  Born near Barcelona, Spain, he was the son of a farmer. After studying at the University of Barcelona, he entered the Society of Jesus at Tarragona in 1602. Sent to study at Majorca, he came under the influence of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, who...

Thomas of Villanova (1488 – 8 September 1555), born Tomás García y Martínez, was a Spanish friar of the Order of Saint Augustine who was a noted preacher, ascetic and religious writer of his day. He became an archbishop who was famous for the extent of his care for the poor of his see. In 1544 he was nominated as Archbishop of Valencia and he continued to refuse the position until...

Saint Regina (d. 286 A.D.) was born to pagan parents in France. Her mother died in childbirth, and her father gave her to the care of a Christian nurse who secretly baptized her and raised her in the Christian faith. As Regina grew older her embrace of Christianity became evident, and her father disowned her as a result. Regina then went to live with her Christian nurse. They lived in poverty,...